Firearm magazine releasing lever and trigger safety

ABSTRACT

A firearm in particular an automatic rifle, which comprises a housing, and a trigger guard received by the housing. A trigger lever extends into the trigger guard and a magazine releasing lever is provided. A magazine is operatively connected with the magazine releasing lever and an operative connection is arranged between the trigger lever and the magazine releasing lever, in order to lock one of the levers upon operation of the other of the levers.

waited States Patent Seifiried 1 Feb. 13, 1973 [54] FIREARM MAGAZINERELEASING 3,415,000 12/1968 Koucky et a1. ..42/7O E LEVER AND TRGGERSAFETY FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [75] Invent: Paul Badenweler107,894 ll/l927 Austria ..42/70 A many I [731 Assigriee: RheinmetallGmbH, Dusseldorf, ri ary xaminerBenjamin A. Borchelt Germany AssistantExaminerC. T. Jordan Att0rney-Ernest G. Montague [22] Filed: March 11,1971 211 Appl. No.: 123,184 ABSTRACT V H V A firearm in particular anautomatic rifle, which com- [30] Foreign Application priority Dataprises a housing, and a trigger guard received by the housing. A triggerlever extends into the trigger guard March 24, Germany I ..P and amagazine releasing lever is provided A magazine is operatively connectedwith the magazine [52] [1.8. C. E, 42/70 A releasing lever and anoperative connection is a IIILC 3 F41C 17/08 ranged between the triggerlever and the magazine [58] Field of Search ..42/7O E, 70 A, 7 releasinglever, in order to lock one of the levers upon operation of the other ofthe levers.

[56] References Cited 3 Claims, 5 Drawlng Figures UNITED STATES PATENTSR26,872 4/l970 Dieckmann ..42/70 E PAIENIEDFEB 1 3 197a SHEET 2 BF 2FIG.5,

FIREARM MAGAZINE RELEASING LEVER AND TRIGGER SAFETY The presentinvention relates to firearms, in particular to an automatic rifle, witha magazine releasing lever projecting into a trigger guard.

Most of the trigger mechanisms and magazine holding devices, which havebecome known until now for automatic firearms with exchangable magazinesare not connected in a functional manner. This has been found asdisadvantageous, since in case of a non intended operation of themagazine releasing lever by a rifleman or in case of a removal of themagazine by longitudinal pivoting of the firearm during firing, as itcan occur in connection with rifles, the magazine is hooked-in on itsnarrow side in the firearm, while the opposite side is arrested by aratchet and thus the magazine does not sit rigidly in the firearmanymore. The next cartridge is consequently no longer gripped by thebreech and fed to the barrel. Thus, an interruption of the firingsuccession is created for a reason not apparent to the rifleman. He willnow substitute a new magazine for the previous magazine which has notbeen completely emptied or he will suspect an error in the ammunitionand load again or he will examine the magazine concerning its rigidseat. These seconds connected with error search and error removal,respectively, can be decisive for the life of the rifleman in combat.

A device is known in which a magazine releasing lever permitsdisadvantageously during its operation the firing of the firearm andonly blocks the trigger lever after the magazine is removed and anadvance in its resting position takes place. The magazine holding levercan, however, advance only in its resting position, when the triggerlever is disposed in its resting position.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a firearm, inparticular an automatic rifle, wherein the trigger mechanism and themagazine holding device are connected together such that the magazinereleasing lever cannot be operated during firing. On the other hand, inan intended or non-intended operation of the magazine releasing lever,the trigger lever should be locked, in order to prevent the firing ofthe cartridge disposed in the barrel. In case of a magazine, which doesnot sit rigidly in its holder, this should be indicated to the riflemansuch that the firing device is blocked. Furthermore without a magazineno bullet still in the barrel should be fired. Furthermore the magazinereleasing lever should be operable for the left-hand operator as well asfor the right-hand operator in equal manner, and a further object of thepresent invention resides in a solution which is economical as to costsand also wherein the technical production is simple and safe infunction.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide afirearm, in particular an automatic rifle, wherein the trigger lever andthe magazine releasing lever are in operative connection such, that uponoperation of one lever the other is always locked.

By this arrangement it is avoided, in case of the pulled-through triggerlever, that the magazine can be released and removed by means of themagazine releasing lever and removed. On the other hand in case of theoperation of the magazine releasing lever the trigger lever is blocked.

In case the magazine should loosen to an extent, that, the ratchet nolong enters a groove provided on the magazine, the trigger lever remainsforcibly blocked. Upon removal of the magazine, a cartridge still in thebarrel can no longer be fired.

In accordance with the present invention the magazine releasing lever isformed as an angular lever pivotally mounted in the movement plane of atrigger lever, one arm of the angular lever extending directly behindthe trigger lever into the space defined by a trigger guard and theother arm of the angular lever cooperating with the spring biasedratchet causing the holding of the magazine. This arrangement permitsthe transfer of the pivotal movement of the magazine releasing lever ina longitudinal movement of the ratchet, whereby by means of one springonly the ratchet, as well as the magazine releasing lever are movedbackwardly always into its corresponding starting position.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, themagazine releasing lever has at its end of the lever arm extending intothe trigger guard space a handle projecting on both sides beyond thewidth of the trigger lever. For left-hand and right-hand riflemen, it isnow equally simple to exchange a magazine or only to remove the same.

Furthermore the magazine releasing lever enters with its handle, in casethe trigger lever is withdrawn, into a recess formed on the backside ofthe same, while upon operation of the magazine releasing lever, as wellas in case of removing of the magazine, the movement of the triggerlever is blocked by engagement of the handle at one of the locking facesformed on both sides of the recess. The mutual safety function isobtained thus upon operation of any of the two levers, whereby thegreatest possible safety for the rifleman is brought about.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention, which is shown byexample only will be clearly understood in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation, partly in section, of the arrangement of atrigger lever and a magazine holding device in resting position;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, similar to that shown inFIG. 1; indicating the safety device of the trigger lever upon operationof the magazine releasing lever;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, indicating the safetydevice of the trigger lever upon removal of the magazine; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, indicating the safetydevice of the magazine holding device upon withdrawal of the triggerlever.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, in a firearm1, a trigger lever 2 is provided in a trigger guard space 1b definedwithin a trigger guard la, which trigger lever 2 is pivotally mounted ona bolt 3 and is pressed by a spring 4, which supports itself on thefirearm housing, against an abutment lc which is like a firearm housing.

On the side opposite the abutment 1c of the trigger lever 2, the latteris equipped perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the firearm witha rectangular recess 2a, which is limited on both sides by locking faces2b (on the top) and 2c (on the bottom). Behind this recess 2a isdisposed on the long arm 5a of a magazine releasing lever 5 formed as anangular lever, which is pivotable about the section point of its arms ona bolt 6 secured in the firearm housing, a handle 5b, while the shortarm 50 is pivoted by means of a bolt 7 on the ratchet 8. At the endadjacent the magazine releasing lever 5 of the ratchet 8 is disposed aspring 9 supporting itself on the firearm housing 1, while the other endprojects into a groove 10a of a magazine 10 and is inclined towards itspullout direction. Furthermore the ratchet 8 is equipped with a set-off8a, which lays itself for the limiting of the maximum stroke uponremoved magazine 10 against an abutment 1d of the firearm housing I.

The operation of the device is explained in greater detail in FIGS. 3, 4and 5.

Thus FIG. 3 shows the position, in which the magazine releasing lever 5after pushing down the same withdraws over its short arm 5c the ratchet8 against the force of the spring 9 from the groove 10a of the magazine10, so that the magazine 10 can be removed. Simultaneously, the handle5b of the magazine releasing lever 5 is disposed so close behind thelower locking face 2c of the trigger lever 2, that the latter cannot bewithdrawn.

FIG. 4 clarifies how upon releasing of the magazine lever 5 the latterin cooperation with the ratchet 8 moves in the direction of the springforce, until the setoff 8a of the ratchet 8 engages the abutment 1d ofthe firearm housing 1, as a result of the spring 9. The handle 5b of themagazine releasing lever 5 is disposed now behind the upper locking face2b of the trigger lever 2, so that the latter can still be blocked.

In accordance with FIG. 5, upon withdrawal of the trigger lever 2, itsrecess 2a moves below the handle 5b of the magazine releasing lever 5and blocks thereby the magazine holding device. Upon release, thetrigger lever 2 moves in the direction of the spring force until itengages the abutment 1c.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is tobe understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

l. A firearm comprising a housing,

a trigger guard received by said housing,

a trigger lever extending into said trigger guard,

a magazine releasing lever,

a magazine operatively connected with magazine releasing lever, and

means for operative connection between said trigger lever and saidmagazine releasing lever, in order to lock one of said levers uponoperation of the other of said levers,

said magazine releasing lever comprises an angular lever pivotablymounted in the movement plane of said trigger lever and having two leverarms,

one of said lever arms extending substantially directly behind saidtrigger lever into a space defined bty said trigger guard, and the other0 said lever arms cooperates with a spring biased ratchet causing theretaining of said magazine.

2. The firearm as set forth in claim 1, wherein said magazine releasinglever includes a handle projecting on both sides beyond the width ofsaid trigger guard with the end of the arm of said magazine releasinglever extending into said trigger guard.

3. The firearm, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said trigger lever hasa recess on its back side and locking faces disposed on both sides ofsaid recess,

said magazine releasing lever with said handle enters said recess ofsaid trigger lever in the withdrawn position of the latter, while uponoperation of said magazine releasing lever, as well as upon removal ofsaid magazine the movement of said trigger lever is blocked byengagement of said handle on one of said locking faces of said triggerlever.

said

1. A firearm comprising a housing, a trigger guard received by saidhousing, a trigger lever extending into said trigger guard, a magazinereleasing lever, a magazine operatively connected with said magazinereleasing lever, and means for operative connection between said triggerlever and said magazine releasing lever, in order to lock one of saidlevers upon operation of the other of said levers, said magazinereleasing lever comprises an angular lever pivotably mounted in themovement plane of said trigger lever and having two lever arms, one ofsaid lever arms extending substantially directly behind said triggerlever into a space defined by said trigger guard, and the other of saidlever arms cooperates with a spring biased ratchet causing the retainingof said magazine.
 1. A firearm comprising a housing, a trigger guardreceived by said housing, a trigger lever extending into said triggerguard, a magazine releasing lever, a magazine operatively connected withsaid magazine releasing lever, and means for operative connectionbetween said trigger lever and said magazine releasing lever, in orderto lock one of said levers upon operation of the other of said levers,said magazine releasing lever comprises an angular lever pivotablymounted in the movement plane of said trigger lever and having two leverarms, one of said lever arms extending substantially directly behindsaid trigger lever into a space defined by said trigger guard, and theother of said lever arms cooperates with a spring biased ratchet causingthe retaining of said magazine.
 2. The firearm as set forth in claim 1,wherein said magazine releasing lever includes a handle projecting onboth sides beyond the width of said trigger guard with the end of thearm of said magazine releasing lever extending into said trigger guard.